This invention relates to rifle, handguns, and shotguns and, more particularly, to a recoil reducer or muzzle brake which reduces the recoil force associated with firing the weapon.
The use of choke devices to tighten the shot pattern for a charge fired by a shotgun is well-known. In the past, chokes were separate elements which had to be permanently attached to the muzzle end of a shotgun barrel. To do this, the owner had to send his shotgun to a gunsmith or the the like who either fitted a choke to the existing barrel; or, replaced the barrel with a new one having the choke attached. More recently, shotguns have been provided with a barrel whose muzzle has interior threads. This allows an appropriately made choke to be threaded onto the end of the barrel. The importance of this is that it allows the owner to interchange chokes so he can use one when hunting quail, for example, and a different one for hunting doves.
There are still, however, problems in obtaining as tight a shot pattern as may be desirable for hunting a particular bird or game. For example, a shotgun shell includes both a quantity of shot; i.e., pellets of a given size. It also includes a wadding in which the shot is encased. When the shotgun is fired, the wadding is propelled through the barrel along with the shot. In fact, the shot is carried by the wadding until both are projected from the muzzle end of the shotgun. The wadding may, for example, be thrown 40-50 yards from the shotgun. The wadding spins as it moves through the barrel creating a centrifugal force imparted to the shot. When the shot is ejected from the barrel, it is has both a forward and a sideways force imparted to it. This results in a spread of shot greater than desired. Conventional choke designs do little or nothing to reduce this phenomenon. It is also desirable to reduce the recoil force produced when the shotgun is fired. As with chokes, there are various types of recoil reducers known in the art. Also as with chokes, these devices are attached to the muzzle end of the shotgun with the purpose of redirecting the gases away from the normal direction directly out from the muzzle. In an effort to effect a choke and recoil, some prior devices have been designed to incorporate both functions. However, these devices are relatively ineffective to achieve both desired results, and none resolves the problem created by the wadding as described above.
The positive effects of recoil reduction, less wear on the user, better accuracy, etc., with respect to a shotgun are also true with respect to a rifle or handgun. While there is obviously no place for choke reduction with these weapons, the same device which helps alleviate the problem described above, can, with minor modifications, also be used to provide similar results with rifles and handguns. This is also true with respect to shotguns where there is no choking desired; for example, shotguns used to hunt deer or turkeys and which fire a slug, but where recoil reduction is still desirable.